October 3, 2014Today I decided to begin something new and a bit different.As we are about to begin our 36th year of scale competition, I thought now was would be a good time to start my personal news column. (or blog)For the past several years I have been closely following the U.S. Scale Masters program of annual regional qualifiers in Southern California, taking photos and videos and posting them around the internet. I have always hoped my efforts might inspire or encourage others to do the same. Ever since the demise of the magazine Scale R/C Modeler I have wondered how will the USSMA continue to get broad reaching exposure and coverage of their events. Even with today's internet and social media, this exposure is not a guarentee. We need individuals with a pasion for scale competition to document for future generations the excitement and the challenge of precission scale aero-modeling, both building and flying.

So today I'm going to start by reporting to you about the upcoming Scale Masters regional qualifier in Hesperia,Ca. This will be the second event hosted by the Victor Valley R/C Flyers club and presented by the Scale Squadron of Southern California. Today will be practice flying with static judging commencing on Saturday morning followed by round one beginning around 0900. Two days of competition flying with 4 or 5 rounds judged.Now known as the 1st Chance Qualifier (because it occurs immediately after the 2014 Championships and before the end of the calendar year) this will be the first opportunity for modelers in and around SoCal to begin the qualifying process. We here in SoCal usually also have another regional located in Hemet sometime in April. There also was another regional event in Van Nuys years ago but after only two in '07 & '08 the host club lost interest. A real shame because that's where I learned to fly r/c in 1977 and the club field (designed by Bob & Charlee Smith of BSi Adhesives in 1972) is a very nice facility for hosting large events. Maybe someday we can explore having another qualifier there.We also usually see members of the One Eighth Air Force from Arizona join in the fun at our qualifiers. Now that is a dedicated group of scale competitors. Willing to travel hundreds of miles each year to our events thoughout the year. More on them later.

So I'll start by exposing to you two of our "Expert" class flyers who are also competing this weekend with their latest models.Brad Osborne from San Pedro will be debuting his new PT-19 built from plans by Wendell Hostetler. Brad chose to replicate a modern restored PT. His protype is based in Northen California near Sonoma I beleive and it has some unusual characteristics like smoke-tinted windscreens,brown Corrinthian Leather cockpit trim and a beautiful cherry wood instrument panel. Brad's model feature full cockpit details,working lights including the retractable landing light. He also modified the plans to include airfoil shaped verticle & horizontal stabs instead of the slab balsa that's on the plans.Brad has been flying r/c since 1967 and building scale since the late '70s. He got bit by the scale-competition bug in 2007 with his first qualifier experience and has never looked back. He has become one of the most prolific scale builders in SoCal producing a new model about every 18 months. Brad finished 7th place "Expert" class in the 2013 Championships at Davis,Ca. with his award winning PT-17 Stearman built from Ziroli plans at 87".

Tim Cardin from Orange County,Ca. will also be debuting a new model. He just completed a 100" span Cessna T-50 built from the Don Smith plans. Tim chose to replicate the tv star "Songbird" from the 1950s hit show Sky King. The model features radial 4 stroke engines.

Here's a sneek peek at Brad's latest PT-19 and Tim's T-50. Brad took the pics of his model and I "lifted" the pics of Tim's model from Facebook. I cannot give photo credit for Tim's pics because I don't know who took them.

So I hope you will continue to read my column in the coming weeks. Not all posts will be a "novel". Sorry. I promise to inspire you with photos each week of some of the most terrific scale models in SoCal. I'll be back next week with my report of the Hesperia qualifier. See you soon!Ken Young

Nice Ken - your photography is always inspiring.Hope you can make the other CA and AZ qualifiers as well - Gunsmoke and the Dan Sullivan at Ukiah.Have you had any talks with the Van Nuys group to see if there is any interest now?Jeff

CLASSIC AERO-MOVIE ALERT!October 9,The great classic aviation film - "A GUY NAMED JOE" (1943) airs tonight on TCM. (check your local listing for time)Starring Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson, Ward Bond and Lionel Barrymore. This is a must for P-38 fans.Released in March of '44, yes it is a love story with a wartime theme, however, with an all star cast,great writting,acting and......did I mentioned the co-co-stars ....P-38s!If you have seen it before, watch it again and alert your friends. If you never heard of it, you won't regret watching.

Photo coverage of the Hesperia qualifier is coming soon!Enjoy the movie tonight and then make a low pass here tomorrow for those Hesperia photos.

Oct. 10It's Foto-Friday!Here's a few from the USSMA regional in Hesperia,Ca.Congratulations to Brad Osborne of San Pedro,Ca. for his 1st Place win in the EXPERT Class!I shot about 300 with my point-n-shoot and about 600 with Brad's Nikon D3200 on Saturday. I was having difficulty with a pulled muscle in my right shoulder so I did what I could but could not return on Sunday. I needed stronger medication. I had a great time. The model field is set in a riverbed and in a little valley surrounded by rolling hills and cottonwood trees. It is very scenic. Saturday night BBQ at Dave & Christie Lloyd's house was fantasic! Their garage / model shop is nothing short of amazing. I think we stayed 'till about 9pm. Thank you Dave & Christie for hosting the party! Looking forward to next year. It's going to be hard to top it in Hemet next year.And the Victor Valley R/C Flyers hosted another terrific contest in the best tradition of the U.S. Scale Masters Association. With help and great support from the Scale Squadron of Southern California. Mike Greenshields not only ran the contest but also competed with his Taylor Craft. Thank you also goes to Paul Stenberg (House of Balsa) for sponsoring this year's event with some Zap Products.The lunch provided on Saturday was a fresh cooked roasted ham and fixins. YUM!

There were 14 contestants and spectators from many parts. The weather was great if a bit hot, but it's a dry desert heat so I like it. All in all a pretty good start to the 2015 season. The Victor Valley club members came to play (compete) and show their support.

I'll be posting photos for the next several years days, so I hope you don't get too bored and come back often.

100 YEARS AGO -June of 1915 the RFC was battling the Hun in the skies over France. Flying the antiquated BE2 for long reconnaissance and artillery spotting they found themselves soon thrusted into air-to-air combat with the German Eindecker and it's forward-firing machine gun. - "through the propeller arc!"

The British nor the French had no such ability. yet!

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Recently I found this old BBC series on Youtube and have been watching each Sunday evening as there is absolutely nothing to watch on Sunday nights. Unfortunately the series only lasted two years but it covers the lesser known beginnings of the "Airwar". I thought I knew quite a bit about WWI planes, but this series, made in 1977, has shed a big light on the evolution of air combat.I hope you give it a watch!It's both entertaining and educational! -Ken.

Ken, I watched the first episode last night - the music is so evocative of BBC/PBS series in the 70s!I am a credits watcher, did you notice who was credited with the flying? Dave Boddington - and one other that went by too quickly to catch.

Jeff,I'm glad you're enjoying this series. I hope others will too!I don't believe it was aired in the U.S. I sure enjoy it.They use VERY large scale models for the flying scenes of the BE2 and the Avro and later in the series, the Eindecker.You'll notice the lead actor, Tim Woodward, also played in another great BBC series - Piece of Cake 1988. He played Squadron Leader Rex.

Hi Ken,I ordered and received two of the 2016 calendars and they are very nice! Thanks for putting this together.-Ed Becker

Thanks Ed for your purchase and review! I look forward each year to showcasing these terrific hand-crafted models. It's very gratifying to know that there are others out therewho appreciate these models as I do. I've sold this annual calendar in over half the states now and 7 foreign countries as well. I believe thatscale-modeling is still alive!

New Album added: 2007 SoCal Regional Qualifier, Hemet,Ca*Be sure you're logged in to view and comment on albums.I have many more albums to create if you're interested.

This latest album is only 20 photos. It's certainly not every plane that competed. My camera at the time ate up batteries plus I also took about 4 hours of video while also competing in the new "Open - Class". This was my very first Master'scontest.

Go to to above tab - "community" then "images/videos" then "Users Galleries"